the reel ess

I've never been one to make impulsive decisions with money. I looked for a truck for a year and a half before I finally found the one I both wanted and could afford. Just going down to the local Chevy dealer and buying what they had would have cost me $8K more.

No one has mentioned Facts Of Fishing with Dave Mercer. Supposedly his show is a day on the water, edited to show him catching. But at the end of the show they tally the casts, catches and hours they took. Sometimes it's 8 hours. I'd be dead on my feet after 8 hours standing.

There is a show named Carolina Outdoor Journal that comes on NC public television where the host admits to having to delete hours and even weeks of footage because nothing happened. He goes on the boat and does the video production then acts as a host in the studio replaying the footage he has gathered. He;s always honest about the struggles and I love the show for that reason.

Right. that's why I put it in quotes. This is kinda like wrasslin' vs wrestling. My favorite shows are the ones where I can learn something. I like to see a Hank Parker struggle to catch 10 fish because that's more often the way it is for me. Lately I've seen him combine two shows into one and admit he had a hard time in one of them. When you subtract the commercials and the in-show commercials, there's only maybe 10 minutes of actual fishing.

I love me some Bill and I'll leave it at that. But I've heard a lot of people, even guys who have shows, say that it's more common for show hosts to "cheat" to put together a decent show each week than it is for them to show only the fish caught. ie: A lot of show are plain fake. Especially when it's really an infomercial for a particular lure. They'll catch their fish on a T rigged worm, but put it on the lure they're hawking. I think that has declined in recent years because the quality of the production is so much better. They don't do 5 different camera angles that appear to be one catch. But they do go to managed fisheries like Bienville and others that produce well to film episodes. They also shoot more than one day wearing the same clothes to make a show. I know 50 or 100 fish days happen, but ask yourself how often. And every bass looks like it swallowed a bowling ball. That's because it's being fed. Would you watch a show where the guy goes to the lake to catch 2 dinks?

Snag Proof Original Frog. The very one in my avatar. It caught a previous PB for me. They make a model that's light (supposedly about 1/4 oz. for spinning gear-I'd say less) and another 1/2 oz. that's for BC gear. I caught that old big mama on the lighter one using BC gear one steamy July evening about 14 years ago. I still have that very frog and it still catches fish.

I was bad at this when i started bass fishing. Setting the hook is a feel thing. When I set the hook on a single hook bait, I swing away as soon as I think the bait's in the fish's mouth. If it's a spinnerbait or other fast moving lure, usually a good swing of the rod will do. If it's a T rigged worm, or craw or a frog, I try to cross their eyes and keep them coming my way so they can't get off. Less time during the fight means fewer fish get off. Sometimes I skate them across the water. Higher speed reels can help with that as well. As for trebles, I usually don't set it as hard, especially crankbaits. Sometimes with trebles you'll hook a fish, it'll jump, then when you see it again the hooks are in a different place. There are more hooks, but weaker leverage on your part and better on the fish's part. I take it a little easier with those and use mono line and more limber rods or at least a rod with some tip action. As stated above, put that rod tip in the water, but keep the same amount of pressure when you think he's gonna jump and you'll lose fewer. Good luck and keep trying.

I have one that's locked up now. As for the straight fall theor, every one I ever had would get the line a little kinked and not roll off the spool like it will off a spinning reel. I know there are high quality spincast reels, but for that money, I'd buy a decent spinning reel.

Can't tell you how many times I managed to foul it up, mostly due to line twist, when I was a kid. And my dad didn't carry an extra spool of line so I was finished. I don't really see any major advantage they have over BC and spin gear for the advanced angler, but I see a lot of disadvantages.

I've never caught many bass trolling. I used to catch a lot of white bass and peanut stripers doing it though. It wasn't unusual to find a yearling largemouth chasing the bait with those "other bass". Now I troll with my friend for crappie and occasionally there is a bycatch of bluegill or bass.

I caught a 6.5 (I think because it was weighed with a really cheap spring scale) at my buddy's pond about 14 years ago. I haven't caught a single big bass at that place since. Not one, and I fish it quite a bit. I know it better than the owner as he has told me before. But I started fishing a local reservoir that's known to have big bass. Three years later I finally got one better, but still not 7 lbs. I'll bet I've caught 15 fish over 5 there and several over six before finally getting a new PB. I did have one certain PB straighten out a light wire hook though.

I wonder if that turns the fish on in the summer, kind of like an aerator. This is true. Where I'm from a lot of people put something under their dock in winter to attract spawning crappie in the spring.A lot of them will tell you to flip under there. Thy're the worst. My dad would always say's "I hope he hits a stump" when one came by.

Teach a man to fish and he'll start replies on the latest tackle purchase bait monkey thread.

They can be dumb around me. It's OK because I'll put them back.

If you're fishing or swimming or just enjoying your day on the dock, it's bad form for someone to come pick apart your dock with casts. If you're not there, it's fair game, IMO as long as they don't damage anything. Here, in SC, they can legally get on it and fish if they want and you can't even run them off. It is illegal for them to fool around with a boat that's docked there because it's registered as someone else's real property.

No. It went under the boat and straightened out a hook. Strongest bass I ever hooked by far.

This is great! I've had this level of service from Daiwa as well. Abu-Garcia doesn't answer the phone, return messages or, apparently, even monitor their email. In those instances, BPS rod and reel repair does good work, for usually about $20. I have two Tournament MB's as well. I liked the first one so much I bought a second. It's a lotta reel for $120.

Sunny: Gold, double willow gold blades Overcast: Gold, double willow gold blades Rainy: Gold, double willow gold blades A really good gold spinnerbait is the War Eagle Gold Shiner color. Last time I bought one, I bought three. I wish you could get it with gold hammered blades. They throw off even more vibration and look like scales. Dark or exceedingly muddy....No, not gold. Black/Blue with Black Colorado blade. Specifically, Strike King Night SB. You can fish it so slowly, it's a good winter bait 'round here.

Me either. And I'm 46. At least not all the way past the barb.

Here's what I have. The Frog model. It's $30 off right now. That's a $100 rod for $70. It's stiff as a pool cue. But I use it for jigs when it's not frog season. http://www.cabelas.com/product/fishing/fishing-rods/casting-rods|/pc/104793480/c/104764680/sc/104823180/cabela-s-tournament-zx-bass-casting-rods/1619298.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fcasting-rods%2F_%2FN-1102351%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104823180

Yes

I have a dedicated frog (I consider rats and some other large topwaters to be in the frog category) setup with PowerPro 50 lb braid on it. But the rod is way too stiff for most treble topwaters. I use a 6'6" M rod with 15 lb Big Game for that purpose. In an effort to maximize my rods, I use the frog rod for jigs and heavy T rigs too. About the only treble lure I'd use this rod for is the SPRO rat. It's the Cabela's Frog model Tournament XT 7'3" Hvy-Fast. But, man, does it lay the smackdown on fish with the frog.

Well, I've only caught one bass with the bait rigged with an offset bend hook, weedless. I was not using a bullet weight. But I've caught a good bit with it wacky rigged. I just placed an order for more because i can't seem to find the bags I had. I guess I'll give it another shot the regular way.

Just my $0.02, but here's what I use: Spinning: 7' M M-F rod, 20 lb braid (I use braid on all bass spinning). I don't usually use a leader, but I'm experimenting with a short one right now. This combo is for light treble lures like a Rapala minnow. Baitcasting: 6'6" M MF rod with 15 lb Berkley Big Game. This combo's for heavier treble baits, topwaters and lipless cranks. If I fished deep cranks a lot, I'd probably opt for a crankbait specific rod for them. These are both Lightning Rods. I know their are people on this board who consider these as useless as Ugly Stiks for bass fishing, but their action is just right for trebles, they're light and they just keep getting the job done. When using a reaction bait with trebles, the lack of sensitivity can be a plus. I'll replace the BC rod at some point, but not for a while.

I have access to a private pond where I know fish will almost always bite. They're stunted and staring there. I've caught 50 in two hours there before. If I need to gain confidence with a technique that's the place to do it. When I started fishing it was the 70's-80's and all I knew was 6" or 8" plastic worms, T rigged. Then I got a second BC combo and put a Rebel Deep Wee R crankbait on it. Those were all I fished for a long time and they seemed to do pretty well at either getting reactions or finessing fish to bite. If those didn't work, I'd switch species or go mow the grass. Next I moved to spinnerbait, then hard topwaters, then buzzbaits, etc., etc. Now the running joke with my family and friends is that I like fishing tackle more than fishing. Here's a good guide that will give you the basics and a way to catch most bass in most situations. https://www.bassmaster.com/news/starter-kit-bass Among these, I use jerkbaits the least, probably because I don't like them much. A couple of spring sleepers that a lot of people ignore are Trick Worms and flukes, both weightless. I went Sunday and got 14 at my buddy's pond. Most were on these two baits.